Page 34 of Seven Lost Summers
Then I hear it.
The clapping. Just two pairs of hands cutting through the quiet.
Bianca’s head snaps toward the sound, eyebrows lifting like she forgot the world existed outside this room. Nate looks too, and I see it hit him. That flicker across his face when he realizes we weren’t only playing for ourselves.
He was too wrapped up in Bianca’s orbit, too busy eye fucking her to notice we had an audience.
“That was so fucking good,” Quinn says, stepping fully into the room, camera hanging around her neck.
Scarlet follows, all sharp edges and raised brows. She levels Nate with a cool, pointed stare, the kind that carries enough heat to tell him to back off.
But Nate doesn’t bite. He’s still watching Bianca like she just hung the fucking moon.
Chapter 7
Nate
Fuck,fourweekshavepassed since that first jam session in my room, and she’s been in my head ever since.
We’ve played almost every day, and still I haven’t thrown a single pick-up line her way. Which is insane, considering she’s got a face I can’t stop staring at and a body that turns my brain to static. That smile hits me square in the fucking chest every time. And when Bianca’s got that guitar slung over her shoulder, all attitude and rhythm, the game’s already lost. Still, I play it cool. Pretend it’s only music.
But the truth is, my jerk-off sessions in the shower have turned into a daily ritual. Sometimes twice.
Even Theo’s been taking longer, and I know I’m not the only one thinking about her when the water’s running.
Bianca’s not only under my skin. She’s under his too. Got both of us twisted up, and she hasn’t even realized.
I used to fuck without thinking. Now I can’t even glance at another chick without measuring her against Bianca. She’s the girl you want to lose yourself in and forget the rest of the world exists.
Every part of me wants to make a move; fuck, normally I would have by now, but Theo’s the reason I haven’t.
I see the way he eyefucks her when he thinks no one’s paying attention. That isn’t some throwaway glance—it’s carved-in, laser-sharp focus. I’ve never seen him stare at anyone like that before. The way he looks at her, feels new.
Whatever this is building into, she’s in the center of it, and we’re both too far gone to stop.
If she said yes, I wouldn’t hesitate. I’d wreck her with him, and still want more.
Theo’s starting to open up with Bianca, more than I’ve seen with anyone. He’s looser around her, cracking jokes, slipping into that laid-back charm that usually takes months to show.
Every time she laughs at something he says, I see the way she gets to him. The way his whole face lights up, like that sound from her is some kind of reward.
Maybe she’s pulling something out of him the rest of us never could.
Today, only Theo and I are home.
The place is too quiet, missing Scarlet’s non-stop mouth. She’s over at the motorcycle repair shop. It’s our dad’s place. He’s been running it before any of us existed. Grease-stained floors, classic rock always playing too loud, tools scattered everywhere. Scarlet’s always been down in the garage with him, watching from the sidelines, passing tools, wiping grease off her jeans without a second thought.
Theo and I have been chilling in our room waiting for Bianca to show up for our usual jam session. She always shows up around this time, give or take a few minutes, and we’ve both been pretending not to check the clock, counting down the seconds until we hear that knock on the door.
The second we hear the knock, I lift my head and glance at Theo.
He freezes for a moment, shoulders tight, jaw clenched, like his entire body instantly locked up on instinct. He exhales, and something shifts in him. He doesn’t say a word. Simply takes off toward the front door, moving like he’s been holding his breath all fucking day waiting for this.
I stay where I am, keeping still, letting him have the moment. Trying to act like none of this matters. As if my chest isn’t buzzing and my heart isn’t kicking against my ribs simply because she’s here.
But the truth is, I wanted to be the one who got to her first. Opening that door simply to catch that smile meant for me.
I toss the cable I’d been half-heartedly trying to untangle and move across the room, dropping onto the edge of the bed.
